Unwanted Help
by JateSkateFate815
Summary: Brooke convinces Haley to hire Rachel as a new Nanny. Naley.
1. Chapter 1

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Unwanted Help: Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own One Tree Hill. **

**A/N: This idea has been floating around in my mind for a little bit now. So I guess this is AU, so Deb isn't the Nanny. So this is after the Crazy Carrie kidnapping incident, and when Nathan and Haley are looking for a Nanny. This is my first **_**real **_**OTH fic, and I haven't been watching the show for that long so forgive me for OOC-ness if there is any. Enjoy!**

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Brooke walked downstairs to the sun-filled kitchen. Peyton surprisingly was not home, but she had left the coffee pot out for her, though.

On her way to the kitchen table, she pulled a cream-colored coffee mug out of one of the cupboards. She started to pour herself a cup when the coffee overflowed onto the table.

She quickly grabbed a dishtowel and wiped up the mess.

She'd been doing that a lot lately from the stress of her job, and from thinking about Rachel. Contrary to what people may think, she thought about Rachel a lot.

She thought about what she was doing, and where she was. But most of all, she just hoped that Rachel was okay.

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"Haley," Nathan whispered into Haley's ear. It was almost seven-thirty, and he was trying to get Haley up. She had to be at school in a half-an-hour. He'd been trying to get her up for the past hour.

"Five more minutes," she mumbled falling deeper into her sleep, and clutching her pillow even tighter.

While he deeply enjoyed watching Haley in this position, he had to get her to wake up. "That's what you said an hour ago," he said as he crawled up on the bed. He leaned over to her ear and told her, "It's seven-_thirty_," with his voice growing louder as he said thirty.

Haley rolled off of the bed sending her dark brown hair into a whirlwind. "Seven-thirty? Seven-thirty? Nate, why didn't you wake me up?" She asked as she quickly ran around the room throwing things into her bag. She'd give Superman a run for his money.

"I've been trying for the past hour, Hales."

Haley ran into the bathroom and took a record one minute and twenty-five second shower. She came out of the bathroom wrapped in a towel, and her hair soaking wet. "I was up all night looking over the nanny's resumes." She said as she hurriedly changed into her clothes for the school day. "No _one's _right."

Haley glanced over at the clock. It was seven thirty-five. "I still have time," she breathed as Nathan handed her a coffee mug.

"Thank _you_," she said standing on her tiptoes to give him a kiss as she bolted down the stairs. "Bye, Jamie!" She yelled as she ran out of the door.

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Ding! Dong!

Brooke walked to the front door and slowly opened it. "Rachel," she purred in her raspy voice. "I was just thinking about you. How convenient."

She turned around and walked back into the kitchen with Rachel following. "What did you come back for? You need some more money?"

"No. I actually came back to give you the money back. I didn't use any of it," she told Brooke as she reached her hand into her purse and pulled the envelope out.

Brooke squinted in consideration before taking the envelope from Rachel. She didn't look like she had recently used any drugs. He hair looked perfect, and she was perfectly made up. And there was _a lot _of money in the envelope.

Rachel waited patiently as Brooked counted the money. "You didn't use _any _of it?"

Rachel huffed in exasperation, and shot Brooke an icy glare. "Okay, I used _some _of it, but not for drugs."

"Alcohol?"

"Brooke!" She exclaimed stepping forward. "No, I'm clean. _You _were the _annoying _voice inside my head."

As much as Brooked wanted to, she didn't _fully _believe Rachel. She stepped in towards Rachel and enveloped her into a hug, which Rachel hesitantly returned. "I'm glad you're okay," she whispered into Rachel's ear.

"So where were you for the past month?" Brooke asked as she pulled away from Rachel. She walking into the kitchen took a seat on one of the chairs, gesturing for Rachel to sit down.

"Oh," Rachel started walking over to one of the chairs and sitting down. "I was around." She turned to Brooke and smiled. It was just like Rachel to be so cryptic.

"So, can I have a job?"

"I actually don't need any models at the moment." Brooke was not lying. She had no need for any extra models at the moment.

"But I do know two people that are looking to hire someone."

"Yeah?" Rachel asked impatiently. She thought that this was some way of "proving" to Brooke that she was responsible enough to hire someone.

"Well, I don't know how they'd go for it… but. If you wanted to be a nanny…?" She asked with her eyebrows raised hopefully.

"For Naley's kid?"

Brooke nodded, waiting for Rachel's real reaction.

"You-you can't be serious." There was _no way _that she was going to be some nanny for a bratty little kid. Especially Haley's kid.

"Okay…" Brooke said getting up from the table, and putting her mug in the sink. "I really thought that you had changed…" She said disappointedly waiting for Rachel to change her mind.

"Okay, fine!" Rachel told her raising her arms, giving in. "But you _do _remember my history with Haley, right? She'd never go for it."

"Oh, I think she would," she told Rachel, wearing a smirk on her face, and a glint in her eye.

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Later that day, Brooke decided to stop by Haley's to get a little convincing done. Brooke was _very _persuasive, so she had no doubt that this would go her way.

"Hey, Haley," Brooke said as she walked into Haley's house.

"Hi…" Haley responded knowing that Brooke wanted something. She wasn't normally _this _happy and chipper.

"I found a new nanny for you!" She said excitedly while trying to get Haley excited about it as well.

"Great!" She exclaimed joyfully. "Who is it? Do I know this person?"

Brooke didn't expect Haley to jump onboard right away. _Yes, you know her alright. _"Before I tell you, I need you to keep an open mind about this. And this person _really _needs a job, okay?"

Haley's former happiness somewhat dampened. "Brooke… who is it?"

"It's," Brooke braced herself for flying objects before she continued. "Rachel."

Haley's eyes were bulging out of her head. "As in Gatina?" She was stunned. Why would Brooke even think that she would let Rachel into her house?

"She's a drug addict, Brooke."

"Recovering. Recovering."

Haley was still shocked that Brooke would suggest Rachel. "And have you forgotten about our history?"

"Yeah, I know the breakup was rough…" Haley wasn't amused. "Oh, come on. It's been five years. People change in five years. Rachel changed."

"Yeah," Haley scoffed. "Into a drug addict."

"Oh my God! How many times do I have to say that she's recovering? You have changed over the years, too, you know." Now Brooke was about to start her persuasion process.

"You're more caring, and understanding… your hair is different… Please Haley."

Haley seemed to be considering it. "I don't- I don't know, Brooke. I don't want someone like that around my son." She said picking up some of her things and walking into the next room.

"Haley," She whined following after her. "Just give her a chance. Think back a couple of years," she said putting her arm around Haley. "What if- what if Nathan didn't give you another chance, huh?"

"That's-that's different," Haley said pushing hair out of her face, and turning away from Brooke.

"Not it's not, and you know it. And besides. I'm Jamie's godmother. Do you _really _think I'd even ask you about this if I thought this would be bad for him?"

Haley let out a deep reluctantly agreeing breath. "You have a good point… Fine, Brooke. But only because I know that Nathan's not sexually attracted to her, and because you're Jamie's godmother and you wouldn't let anything bad happen to him."

"Yay, thank you, Haley." She threw her arms around Haley.

"One strike and she's out."

Brooke pleaded to Haley with her eyes. "Fine three strikes. Three strikes and she's out. Tell her that she starts tomorrow."

"You won't be sorry!" Brooke yelled on her way out of the door.

_Oh, we'll see_, Haley thought. _We'll see. _

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**Okay, so I know that probably started off a little slow. But it'll get better. And would anyone want Rathan? Please tell me what you think!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Unwanted Help: Chapter 2**

**Thank you all for the reviews, alerts, and favorites! Thank you othspnluver for your help! And thanks for telling me how you feel about Naley and Rathan!**

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_What's taking Brooke so long? It doesn't take _this _long for Haley to say no, _Rachel thought. Occasionally she'd peek out the window to see if Brooke was at the door, or listen closely so she could hear her car pulling up.

If Haley said yes, which Rachel highly doubted, she would be somewhat upset. Forcing her to do something that she didn't even want to do. How she let Brooke manipulate her like that was beyond her. But she had to give Brooke some credit; the girl was good.

But she was happy to be doing it. It would be a way to prove to everyone and herself that she really did change. And that she wasn't the same Rachel that she used to be.

Suddenly she heard the front door open, and she immediately stood up. "Brooke…" She said as she came walked behind the couch. Brooke was watching Rachel with a solemn look on her face. "What did she say?"

"Well…" Brooke began hesitantly. "I told you, Rachel!" Brooke squealed as she jumped in the air.

"So, she said yes? She _really_ said yes?" Rachel's face was full of shock and surprise. She _did not _expect Haley to be so passive about it.

"Yes, Rach, and you start tomorrow," she told her with a smile.

_Tomorrow? _Rachel thought. The idea of starting tomorrow was nerve-racking and she wasn't too sure if she could get over her "Haley hatred" by the morning. "Great." Rachel displayed a fake smile on her face that was almost believable. Luckily Brooke was so happy that she didn't even notice that the smile was not real.

"Oh, and in case you didn't know… which you probably didn't. Their son's name is Jamie. James Lucas Scott."

"Oh! How cute," Rachel said covering one of her hands over her chest sarcastically. Brooke of course, immediately knew that she was mocking her.

"You just wait, Rachel," She told her as she picked up a picture of her and Jamie from one of the side tables. In the picture was Brooke with her arms wrapped around Jamie and Jamie was holding Chester and laughing. They were in Jamie's room, and Haley had taken the picture. Brooke remembered that day distinctly. She held the frame in front of Rachel's face. "Once you look into Jamie's adorable blue eyes, you won't be able to say no to anything. Now come on, Rach. Isn't he just the cutest thing?"

Now, Rachel _couldn't _disagree with that. "Yeah," she shrugged playing it off as nothing. "I guess he's cute."

"Rachel…"

"Fine… he's adorable, okay?" She finally gave in. Brooke could be so pushy sometimes… it annoyed her to no end.

"Good… that's all I wanted."

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"What did I just agree to?" Haley asked herself as she plopped down on the couch. "Oh, yeah. I just agreed to let Rachel be Jamie's nanny." Running her fingers through her hair, she sighed.

"Talking to yourself again, Hales?" Nathan asked as he sat down on the couch next to her.

"Yeah, but with good reason." She took a deep breath before telling him. She had considered not telling him, and letting him find out tomorrow, but that wouldn't work. So she decided to tell him. "So… I have some good n_ews_." You can't go wrong with telling someone about good news.

"Okay…" He said as he slung his arm around Haley's shoulders.

"I found a new nanny…" _Well _I _didn't find her. Brooke did. _

"That's great, Haley," He applauded. He didn't understand why Haley was so hesitant about telling him this. The only problem could be with who the nanny was. "Who is it?"

"Well… um… Rachel Gatina." Haley watched as Nathan broke into a big grin that turned into a laugh "No… seriously."

"I was serious, Nate."

When he realized that Haley really serious he said, "Oh… Brooke?" He didn't really mind Rachel being Jamie's nanny. In fact, he thought that it'd be good for her.

Haley laughed at the fact that he was able to guess. "Yeah."

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"Come on, J-Luke," Lucas said as he lifted Jamie into the air. His phone started to ring as he put Jamie in the backseat of the car.

"Who is it?" Jamie asked excitedly, his blue eyes wandering around the car.

Lucas pulled his phone out of his pocket. "Ah, it's Brooke."

"Tell her I said hi!"

"Okay, Jamie," he chuckled before flipping open the phone, and pressing it to his ear. "Hi Brooke, Jamie says hi."

"Hi, Jamie."

"Kay, Brooke, what's up?" He asked as he fumbled with his keys before reaching over to the ignition and starting up the car.

She walked upstairs to make sure that Rachel was in her room before she continued. When she made sure that it was safe, she came back downstairs for privacy. "So I might have done something that could potentially be dangerous."

Lucas cocked an eyebrow, and looked at Jamie in the rearview mirror who laughed. "Wanna hide out at my place until it's safe?" He saw Jamie make an 'o' shape with his mouth.

That caused Brooke to smile. "Thanks for the offer, but there's no need for that… it's not illegal." She said as she walked into the kitchen and picked up a glass from the table.

"Okay? I'm interested." He looked at Jamie in the rearview mirror who mouthed 'What's up?' with his hands in the air.

"Alright, Lucas Scott. It involves Jamie's new nanny…"

_What? I haven't heard anything about Jamie's new nanny, _he thought as he looked in the mirror again. Jamie was looking at him with big puppy dog eyes. He _really _wanted to know what was going on. "Who is it?"

"…Rachel," she admitted.

"Gatina, you're kidding?" He asked not believing it was true. As he approached a red light, he felt Jamie tap him on the back.

"You'll find out," he told him. "How'd you get Haley to agree to that?"

"I'm a _very _persuasive person, Luke, you know that.

"Oh, I know," he said as he smiled over the memories.

"And Haley's the reason this is dangerous."

"Yeah," he agreed. "I'll call you later, Brooke."

"Bye."

"What?" Jamie asked Lucas as soon as he hung up the phone. Lucas dropped the phone on the passenger's seat. "Oh," he smirked. "Your mother probably wants to tell you."

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"Hey," Lucas called as he carried Jamie into the house. Nathan and Haley were still sitting on the couch.

"Hey, Hi, Jamie." When Haley looked at Lucas, she immediately knew that he knew about Rachel. And she knew that Brooke told him.

"Jamie," Nathan started. "Your mama has something she wants to tell you," He said as he pulled Haley into him with a smile.

"Oh, yeah. We found a new nanny, Jamie."

"Really?" He asked as he stepped in front of the couch. He didn't appear to be too thrilled about having a new nanny. He actually looked a little scared. He didn't want any more Carrie scenarios.

"Oh, don't worry, Jamie, she's a friend of Brooke's," Lucas told him.

Jamie's face instantly brightened at the mention of Brooke. "Does that mean she's mama's friend, too?"

Nathan and Lucas simultaneously started laughing and they both received a glare from Haley. "Not exactly," Haley told him.

"Well if she's anything like Aunt Brooke then I'm sure I'll love her!" He exclaimed looking from Haley to Nathan to Lucas with a huge smile on his face.

"Great! That is great!" Anything like Brooke… Well, Haley hadn't really seen Rachel in a while so she couldn't answer that, but from what she had heard, no she wasn't.

Jamie could no longer contain his excitement. "When does she start?"

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**Please review and tell me what you thought! **


	3. Chapter 3

**Unwanted Help: Chapter 3**

**Thanks for the reviews, alerts, and favorites! So I think I should probably tell you what I'm going to do now… at the end of the chapter.**

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"Ready to go, Rach?" Brooke asked loudly as she walked into the room Rachel was currently occupying. Rachel was under the covers face down with a pillow that covered the back of her head.

"Do I _look _ready?" She asked gruffly as she lifted her head from underneath the pillow. Her hand brown hair was in a messy mound on the top of her head causing Brooke to stifle back laughter.

"No, but you can get up." Brooke threw the covers off of the bed onto the floor so Rachel couldn't simply sit up and recover herself. She then opened the blinds on the window, letting the sunlight gleam through the window.

"_Brooke_," She whined as her eyes adjusted to the light.

"Get _up!" Does the girl not notice that being late is a 'strike one'? _Brooke thought.

"Okay!" Rachel took her time getting out of bed, but Brooke took it upon herself to help her out by grabbing her arm and quickly leading her into the bathroom.

"Thank you, Brooke. Because I couldn't walk on my own," she said before she closed the door. Waking up at six o'clock was definitely something that she'd have to get used to. As she stepped into the shower and let the warm water drench her entire body, she felt her stomach turn. But why was this happening? It wasn't anything to be nervous about. She could act like she didn't care what people think, but really… she does. Other than herself, she was doing this for Brooke. She felt like she owed it to Brooke to make herself better.

"Rachel!" Brooke yelled as she banged on the door a couple of times, causing Rachel to jump. She quickly turned off the shower, and stepped onto the cold tile before wrapping herself in a towel. "I'm out!"

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Nathan walked into the kitchen with Jamie following closely behind. "I'm leaving, Hales." He raised Jamie up in his arms, and said "Have fun with Nanny Rachel," before looking over to Haley and laughing. He placed Jamie back on the floor before ruffling his blond hair. "See you later, Jamie." He made his way over to Haley and gave her a kiss. "You have fun, too… I love you."

"I will, and I love you too. Now get out of here."

He gave her a big grin, "Bye."

When he left the house, Haley turned to Jamie. "Are you ready for your new nanny, Jamie?" She tried smiling, but she couldn't help but be a little worried.

"Yes." He smiled a smile that lit up his eyes.

"Perfect." Haley heard knocking on the door that she could only assume was Brooke and Rachel.

"Hi, Haley," Rachel greeted with a genuine smile.

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"Hi," Haley responded, somewhat taken aback by Rachel's upfront friendliness. She wasn't sure whether or not to hug her until she was pushed by Brooke into Rachel.

"Yeah…" Rachel didn't know what to do either. She awkwardly patted Haley on the back during the hug which Haley did too.

_You think we could've started with a handshake, Brooke?_ Haley asked Brooke mentally. When they pulled away from each other, they both smiled not knowing who should speak first. Luckily Rachel took the initiative.

"Thanks for this, Haley. To be honest, I was surprised when you said yes." She was trying to be as nice as possible without coming across as fake, and she could tell that Haley was trying to do the same.

_Yeah, well Brooke _is_ manipulative. _"Well, thank you too. And I believe in second chances."

"Aw! This is _so _great!" Brooke said as she clapped her hands together and looked back and forth between Rachel and Haley.

"Yeah, Brooke can you go get Jamie?" She wasn't really sure if she should leave Rachel alone with Haley, but she said "...Sure" anyway.

Once Brooke was upstairs, Haley turned to Rachel and flashed a quick smile before continuing what she had to say. "There was this situation that we had, and I just want to make sure that it doesn't happen again."

"Okay… I don't think it will, though. What happened?"

"Well, she flirted with Nathan, kissed him, she got into the shower with him, and to top it _all _off, she kidnapped Jamie."

"Oh. Wow." She sat at the counter with her hands held together thinking over what Haley just said. How anyone would do something like that was beyond her. "Yeah, I can honestly say that that won't happen."

"Okay, good. Great." She gave Rachel the first real smile. It made her relieved to hear that Rachel wouldn't try something with Nathan.

At that moment, Brooke came down the stairs carrying Jamie. _He's so cute_, Rachel thought as Brooke walked him over. Jamie walked over to Rachel's chair and looked up in front of her. "Hi, Kiddo."

"My name's Jamie," he said looking up at Rachel grinning.

"Okay, kiddo," she said smiling back. She didn't mean to call him kiddo, but she didn't have much experience with children so it just slipped out.

"Strike one," Haley mumbled before Brooke pinched her arm.

"That _doesn't count_. It's just Rachel being Rachel," She whispered. "Okay… we," Brooke said pointing back and forth between Haley and her, "are leaving now. We'll see you both later." Brooke dragged Haley out of the door.

Rachel and Jamie looked back and forth at each other. "Um… why don't you show me around since Ha- your mom forgot to?" Jamie reached for her hand, and took her to his first destination.

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After the tour, Jamie wanted to show Rachel Chester, so they both in Jamie's room. Jamie tried to get Rachel to hold Chester, but when she lightly touched him and brought her hands away, he said, "You're just like Uncle Skillz." To Rachel's surprise, she was enjoying taking care of Jamie. He wasn't a brat like she thought he was going to be. After playing with him for an hour, she sat down on the side of the bed watching him play by himself.

"Nanny Rachel," Jamie called. He was sitting in the middle of his bedroom floor with his legs tucked underneath him, feeding Chester.

"Yeah?"

He looked up at her with big, fearful eyes. He hesitated before asking her what he wanted to ask her, but he finally did. "Promise you won't be like Nanny Carrie?

"Oh," was her first answer. She couldn't help but feel sympathetic towards him. _The kid has been scarred for life. _"I promise."

Jamie wasn't too reassured about that, because he still had the same wary look in his eyes. Trying to assure him that she wasn't going to end up crazy like Nanny Carrie she asked, "Do you want to shake on it?"

Jamie nodded and held out his hand. Rachel walked over, bent down, and shook his hand, "Now do you believe me, Jamie?"

"Yes…" He said as he looked down at the floor with a smile on his face. "Nanny Rachel…"

"Yeah?"

"You can call me kiddo."

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**So, since the Rathan-ers are scarce, I'm going to do what I was originally going to do which was Naley with Rathan/Raley/Brachel friendship. Okay, so please tell me how you liked the chapter!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Unwanted Help: Chapter 4**

_**Thanks so much for all of the reviews, alerts, and favorites! And thank you breathe-in3 for your help!! **_

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It was twelve-thirty in the afternoon and Jamie was starting to get hungry. "Nanny Rachel, I'm hungry," he pulled on her pant leg and reached for her hand. It amazed Rachel how comfortable Jamie was with her. If she was Jamie, she wouldn't be this comfortable with herself. But Jamie didn't know her like everyone else did. She had a fresh start with the munchkin.

"Okay." She didn't really know how to cook, but as long as something was already frozen, and had directions on the box, she was good to go. She took his hand and they walked downstairs into the kitchen. "What do you want, kiddo?"

"Chicken nuggets."

"Easy enough," was her simple reply as she pulled a box from the freezer. As she read the back, she could feel Jamie staring at her. When she turned to look at him, he was looking up at her with squinted eyes. _He looks just like Lucas. There is _no way _that he's Nathan's kid. _"Can I help you, Jamie?"

"Do you know how to cook, Nanny Rachel?"

"No, but I can learn. It shouldn't be that hard." She turned to look at the stove, scrunching up her nose as she did so.

Jamie smiled as he watched her watch the stove. _This should be interesting. _He always wondered what it would look like if the stove blew up. But something like that shouldn't happen from cooking chicken nuggets. "You have to preheat the oven."

"Thanks, Lucas Jr., I didn't know that."

"You know… sarcasm isn't attractive." He told her with a straight face.

Rachel couldn't help but laugh. "You're _four_," she held up four fingers. "What do you know about what's attractive?"

"I know a lot more than people think I do. I am very mature for my age, Nanny Rachel."

She definitely couldn't disagree with that. He was way more mature than some of the twenty-two year olds that she knew. "Right you are, Kiddo."

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"Hello, Tutor Mom," Brooke chirped into the Bluetooth that was practically glued to her ear. She wanted to check in with Haley to see how she was holding up. Ever since she had to drag Haley off to work, she was afraid that Haley might sneak out of the window of her classroom and go home to check on Jamie.

"Hi, Brooke," Haley droned from the phone in Lucas's office. She'd been waiting for Brooke to call her all day. Earlier, Brooke had promised to drive by the house to check up on things.

"So, I rode by the house as promised, and I called the fire department. Don't worry, though… Jamie and Rachel are fine."

She immediately went into panic mode. "What? Brooke!"

"Relax, Haley. They're fine. The house is still intact. Calm down."

"Okay. Can you look through the windows and snap some shots on your phone? _Please._"

"Sure. Then I'll call you to come pick me up from the slammer." Pulling into the Tree Hill High lot, she said "I'm on my way to see everybody's favorite teacher Mrs. Haley James Scott."

Haley averted her eyes to the person who was knocking at the door. _I don't know why he's knocking. This is _his _office, _she thought, and she sarcastically waved him in. "Okay, Brooke. I'll see you when you get here."

"Haley… how are you holding up?" He mockingly asked before a slow, sly grin replaced his solemn expression.

"Ha… ha. Brooke said the house is still intact, but I don't think she really rode by." Her eyes flashed at a thought, and she broke into a pleading smile. "Luke…"

"No. No." He knew her so well that he immediately knew what she was doing. "No, Haley."

"_Please!"_ What he was looking at were Jamie's puppy dog eyes staring back at him.

"Fine," he groaned.

"No way, Lucas Scott," was Brooke's greeting as she entered the office with Nathan. They both stood in the doorway of the room. "You're _not _going over there."

"Yeah, Luke," Nathan agreed.

"What is this, an intervention?" Haley mumbled as she looked back and forth between Nathan and Brooke.

Lucas just looked between Brooke and Nathan like he got caught red-handed doing something wrong. "Why are you guys telling _me _this? I'm not the paranoid one."

"Okay, _Haley_. How do you think Rachel would feel if you sent Lucas down there?"

"Good point, Nathan," Brooke said as she pushed him and sent him flying into the doorframe. "Thanks," he rubbed his arm as Lucas and Haley laughed.

"I just want to know that I made the right choice."

"Here we go again, Haley. How many times are you going to have to tell you that you have until it your thick head absorbs it?"

"Haley don't you think we," Nathan pointed to himself and Lucas, "would've stopped you if we thought this was a bad idea?"

"You just have to trust Rachel and have faith in her. And I know that's probably hard for you," she said begrudgingly, "but I do."

Lucas stood up from his chair and nodded. "Sorry, Hales, but I'm siding with Brooke on this one. See you later," he ducked out of the room with Brooke before Haley had a chance to respond.

Haley got up from her seat and pranced over to where Nathan was standing. She had been wondering why Nathan was so calm about Rachel watching Jamie. It was strange because she had been the one to say yes, yet she was acting like a nervous wreck. "Why are you so calm about this?"

"I don't know. I guess I have faith in her."

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Jamie sat on of the stools in the kitchen facing the stove. "The timer's beeping. That means it's done."

Rachel laughed as she got up from her stool and got an oven mitt. She found it funny that Jamie took it literally when she said she didn't know how to cook. She knew about the simple stuff. "It's a good thing you're here to tell me, right?"

Jamie frowned. _Doesn't she remember what I said? _"Remember what I said about sarcasm?"

"What about your mom? Isn't she sarcastic?"

Jamie stopped and thought about what Rachel said. His mom _could _be sarcastic sometimes, but there was reasoning for that. "Well… she doesn't have to be attractive. She's married," he broke out into a smile. "Nanny Rachel, do you want to get married?"

_This kid asks a lot of questions. _It was something that she had definitely thought about. "Maybe… someday."

"Uncle Skills is single!" He smiled. It looked like he had been waiting to bring that up for a while.

_Hmm… Skills. _It's not like she had never thought about it before. Then she noticed Jamie tapping her shoulder and she handed him the plate. "Sorry. Eat up, kiddo."

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**So what Nathan said wasn't meant to be Rathan-y, it was supposed to be friend-ish... so it won't be random when I start their friendship. If there's anything anyone would like to see Rachel do please tell me! There _should be _more Jamie/Rachel next chapter. Please review!**


	5. Chapter 5

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Unwanted Help: Chapter 5

**Thank you all for the awesome reviews, alerts, and favorites!! **

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At the end of the day, Brooke went back to the school to pick up Haley. She didn't even have to ask if Haley wanted to go home. But Brooke noticed that Haley was way calmer than she had been before. As they walked through the hallways, Brooke asked "Why are you so calm now? You were ready to crawl out of the window before."

Haley grinned sheepishly and combed her fingers through her hair. "Nathan calmed me down."

Brooke's eyes widened in surprise and complete shock and she pulled Haley aside. "Oh he did? And on Lucas's desk? Haley, I'm… wow."

She only then realized how what she had said sounded. "No. That's not what I meant," she shook her head quickly. _It wasn't hard to understand what I really meant. _

"Sorry. You shouldn't smile like that when you're talking about Nathan." Linking her arm in Haley's, they walked to Brooke's car.

Brooke sat down in the drivers' seat, and watched Haley as she got in. A couple of minutes had passed, and she laughed as Haley started to get impatient. "Brooke!"

"O_kay, _calm down, we'll get there." Brooke put the key into the ignition, and took off… at twenty miles per hour.

"Are you stalling for Rachel or something? Go!" Haley reached over and pushed Brooke's leg down on the pedal.

"Stop stop stop! I'm going!" For the rest of the ride, Haley wore a satisfied smile on her face. When they approached a stop sign, Brooke stopped for a little longer than she was supposed to. Cars started beeping their horns, and soon a long line formed behind Brooke's car. "Haley, when we get there you _have_ to _promise_ that you won't run into the house or accuse Rachel of doing something wrong."

"Hey! Move it, Lady!" Another driver yelled from behind before going around Brooke.

Haley nodded. "Yeah, okay. But you had to stop to tell me that? You can't talk and drive at the same time?" She sarcastically asked as Brooke pulled into the driveway.

"Ha… _ha_."

* * *

"Your mom's home, Kiddo!" Rachel called as she heard Jamie's little feet pounding through the kitchen. She didn't want the day to end. It was the most fun that she had had in a long time. Who knew any spawn of Haley Scott would end up taking a liking to her.

Haley and Rachel came through the door at that time. "Rachel! Jamie!" Haley called as she walked through the house with Brooke. They stopped when they saw Rachel and Jamie standing in the kitchen laughing. Brooke definitely wanted to "aw", but she kept it in for Rachel's sake. When Jamie saw Brooke, he ran over a jumped into her arms.

"Did you guys have fun?" Brooke asked as she enveloped Jamie into a hug.

"Yeah," Rachel answered. "Once we put the fire out, it was fine."

Haley's eyes widened in horror. "What?!"

"Mama, she's just kidding," Jamie told her with a smile on his face. _At least someone appreciates Rachel's sense of humor_, Haley thought before forcing herself to smile. Brooke and Rachel shared a laugh at Haley's reaction.

"Well, we better go," Brooke told Jamie and Haley. Jamie's smile turned into a pout, and he looked up at Rachel. "Bye, Nanny Rachel." Rachel bent down to Jamie's height, and Jamie threw his arms around her neck before she slowly hugged him back. "See you tomorrow, Kiddo. Bye, Haley." Rachel and Brooke walked out of the door.

"So you like Nanny Rachel?" Haley asked as she watched Brooke and Rachel walk out to the car.

"Yes!" He grinned. "She's the best!"

Haley couldn't help but smile at that. "Okay, that's good."

* * *

Brooke had a megawatt smile glued to her face, that she didn't bother to hide. "Rachel," she gushed before starting the car. She looked over to the passenger's seat and saw Rachel roll her eyes, but she didn't care. "Jamie _adores_ you. That's _so cute_. I told you you'd like him!"

"Can you keep your eyes on the road please?"

"_Fine,_" Brooke groaned. "Oh, and don't you know better than to joke with Haley about a fire?" She condescendingly asked.

"_Oh_, I _do_ know better," she smirked before turning on the car radio. _So I guess the friendship's not going to come as easy as I thought it would, _Brooke thought. But that was no problem for Brooke _Penelope _Davis.

* * *

After dinner, Nathan had promised to listen to Jamie tell him everything about his day. If Haley had to listen to it, he did too. He watched as Jamie became animated as he told him about his day with Rachel. He didn't like Carrie this much which was probably a good thing considering everything that happened. "That's great, Jamie. I'm glad you like her," was his answer. And it was true. They didn't want Jamie stuck with another evil nanny or someone that he didn't like.

"Come on, it's time for bed." Nathan lifted Jamie up into his arms, and carried him up the stairs. When he reached Jamie's bed, he carefully threw Jamie up in the air. When Jamie hit the bed, he burst into fits of laughter.

"One more time, Daddy?" He asked with a smile on his face. "Please?" He pouted and with his "baby seal eyes" as Skills referred to them as, it made it even harder to try to say no.

"Fine. _One _more time, then it's time for bed for you." Nathan picked Jamie up again, and then threw him onto the bed. Jamie exploded into giggles once again. Listening to his father's words, he climbed underneath his covers, and tucked himself in. Nathan smiled before walking to the doorway. "Goodnight, Jamie."

"Goodnight."

Nathan made his way down the hallway to his and Haley's bedroom to find that Haley was already in bed. "Jamie's in bed?" she asked.

"Yeah," he pulled his shirt over his head, and lay down underneath the covers. "Jamie really seems to like Rachel." He stretched out his arm over Haley's pillow, and she moved in closer to him and rested her arm on his chest..

"Yeah, he does. That's good, right?"

"Of course it's good, Hales."

"That was a rhetorical question, Nate." She giggled softly when she saw him mouth "oh". "But thank you for answering it," she said as she looked up and batted her eyelashes at him.

"You're welcome, Hales," he pressed a kiss to her lips. "Goodnight."

"'Night, Nate."

* * *

Early in the morning, Rachel awoke from a dream, that she had once in her life called a nightmare. She dreamed that she lived in a huge house, with a husband and a son… a family. The dream _did _scare her a little bit. It seemed so random, but then she thought that maybe it may not be. Maybe a family was something that she had wanted all a long, but she never wanted to admit it to herself.

Rachel rolled out of bed onto her knees as Brooke came in to wake her up. "I'm up," she croaked, and she trudged to the bathroom before Brooke could come over and do it herself.

Twenty minutes later, Rachel came down to the kitchen to find Brooke standing there waiting for her to go. "You are _slow, _Rach. You were faster yesterday."

"Maybe it's because I have an annoying, perky brunette talking to me while I'm trying to sleep."

"And who might that be?" Brooke asked, waiting for an answer. When the answer didn't come, she led Rachel out to the car. "You should be nicer."

"Right, because we wouldn't want my 'negativity' to rub off on Jimmy Neutron," she laughed as she hopped into the driver's seat of Brooke's car.

_Oh no she didn't, _Brooke thought, and that was the look that she gave Rachel. "Rachel!"

"_Brooke!" _

"Rachel!"

"_Brooke! _We're going to be late. And I know how much you hate being late," she smirked as she held out her hand for Brooke's car keys. Brooke held out the keys, but Rachel had to pry them out of her hands. "Thank _you._"

* * *

"Okay, Jim-Jam. Rachel should be here any minute. Nathan's still sleeping upstairs," She looked out of the window and saw Brooke's car drive into the driveway. As soon as the car stopped, Brooke jumped out and ran into the house.

"Remind me to _never_ ever let Rachel drive when we're running late," Brooke told Jamie and Haley.

"Okay," Jamie answered for Haley.

"You're such a baby. I wasn't even driving that fast," Rachel defended herself as she came in.

"Brooke, she really wasn't," Haley agreed before giving Rachel a small smile which Rachel returned. Rachel handed Brooke her keys and turned to Jamie. "Hi, Kiddo."

"Hi, Nanny Rachel."

Brooke accidentally let out an "aw" and Haley, Rachel, and Jamie turned to her and rolled their eyes. "Aunt Brooke, you're such a softie."

"Right you are, Little Man," she ruffled his blonde hair and pulled him into a hug. They could both hear an "aw" come from Rachel and Haley. Brooke told them goodbye after frowning. "Walk me out to my car, Jamie?" Brooke asked as Jamie took her hand.

Haley turned to Rachel. "Rachel, Jamie really likes you. When you and Brooke left, all he could talk about was how much fun you guys had."

"Shocking, right?" Rachel joked.

Haley nodded, but not because she agreed. "I'm glad I gave you a chance, Rachel."

"I'm glad you gave me a chance too."

Jamie came in through the door at that moment. "Well," Haley started. "I better go. I was supposed to be at the school ten minutes ago." She hugged Jamie goodbye, and contemplated for a second before hugging Rachel. She felt like it was the right thing to do to show that she appreciated her doing this and that there were no hard feelings from the past. "Bye, Haley." Rachel was still in shock after Haley left. "Nanny Rachel?"

"Yeah?"

"Can we play hide and seek?"

"Sure, whatever you want, kiddo?" She told him with a smile.

"Okay, you have to turn around and count to ten." Rachel nodded and turned around towards the wall. She turned back slightly and heard Jamie whisper "no peeking". When she got to ten, Jamie's feet could no longer be heard. As she made her way up the stairs, she wondered how she was going to find Jamie. The house _was _huge. She checked some rooms and closets. "Jamie!"

"Jamie!" She opened one more door to find Nathan… getting dressed. "Nathan Scott, you sure have grown."

"Rachel Gatina. Get out!"

"My thoughts exactly," she replied before she quickly closed the door. Her face started to cool down, and she wish she didn't just say the first thing that popped into her head. She waited outside the door for Nathan to come out of his room. "Nathan, I'm sorry. Me and Jamie were playing hide and seek and I-"

"It's okay, Rachel, really. It's not like you knew it was getting dressed… I won't tell Haley," he added noticing the 'don't tell Haley' look that was on her face. Rachel nodded and smiled appreciatively.

"Nanny Rachel! You're bad at this game!"

Rachel and Nathan laughed. "So you still can't find him?"

"No, I've looked everywhere."

Nathan thought about it for a second. "Not _everywhere. _Come on. I'll show you his favorite spot."

* * *

**So there was the beginning of the Rathan friendship lol. Please review! **


	6. Chapter 6

**Unwanted Help: Chapter 6**

_A/N: Sorry that this update took so long and thank you all for the reviews! And in case anyone forgot, this is set during AU season 5. And thank you othspnluver for helping!_

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Rachel followed Nathan through the house back downstairs through the kitchen, and near the front door. Nathan turned to look at Rachel who was staring up at him. "I already looked there."

Nathan smirked, almost mockingly before reaching for the doorknob. He opened the closet, and before them were a bunch of coats smashed together. "Really? Then you didn't look hard enough."

Rachel stared into the closet for a couple of seconds before finally noticing Jamie's hands hanging from the rack. She pushed the coats that were on both sides of Jamie on, and Jamie let go of the bar, and dropped to the ground. "You know you looked here before right, Nanny Rachel?"

"Yeah, I know that, Jamie." She resisted the strong urge to roll her eyes at the kid since Nathan was standing there, but if he wasn't, then she would have. Leave it to a four-year old to make her feel stupid.

Nathan smiled internally at the interaction between his son and Rachel. "Okay, guys. I'm leaving now." He tousled Jamie's hair, and waved goodbye to Rachel. "See you later, Rachel."

"Bye, Nathan." The front door opened and shut, and Jamie turned to look up at Rachel. "What do you want to do now, Kiddo?"

Jamie shrugged and motioned for Rachel to follow him outside. He picked up the small orange basketball that was lying in the corner on the ground, and started shooting it into the basketball hoop He took two shots before asking Rachel to come play with him. Jamie handed her the squishy ball. Rachel took in her left hand and shot it in the basket, making it, before hearing Jamie gasp. "You made it," his little voice shouted in awe.

"What?" Rachel smirked, bending down to the ground to Jamie's height. He looked sheepishly into her eyes with a small, embarrassed smile. "You didn't think I could play basketball?" Jamie shook his head slowly before grinning.

"Really? Well, I'm probably better than your father," She told him as she shot the ball through the hoop, making it yet again. She turned to look at Jamie who was shaking his head with 'Rachel smirk' on _his _face.

"Nuh-uh. No one is better than Daddy." His baby blue orbs shimmered as he proudly and triumphantly mentioned his father. She thought it was cute how much Jamie adored Nathan.

"Maybe you're right. _Maybe_." She threw the ball over her back without looking, and she smiled when she heard the 'swish'. "Still think your Dad is better than me?"

Jamie looked back and forth from the hoop to Rachel. He seemed to be contemplating the question rather carefully. He finally looked back up at her and beamed. "Yup."

Rachel crossed her arms over her chest, and cocked an eyebrow as she stood up to look down at him. _This kid is too much_. "Yup?" He nodded his head, confirming his answer. "Well, no ice cream for you later."

"Ice cream? You know I was just kidding, Nanny Rachel." He said with pleading eyes as he walked up to her. "Can I please have ice cream?"

"Sure… why not? You could use some meat on your bones anyway." Rachel opened the door and led them into the kitchen.

"But it's the morning." Jamie stated as they sat down on the stools at the counter.

Rachel shrugged and turned to look at him. "I won't tell if you won't." A hopeful look appeared in Jamie's eyes. "I'm _joking_, Little Man."

* * *

Later that day, three cars pulled into the driveway all together. It was Haley followed by Nathan followed by Brooke. "Their timing is scary," Rachel muttered under her breath as she looked out the window from Jamie's room. "It's like they planned it or something." Her thoughts were interrupted when she saw a good sized spider crawling down the wall. "Jamie!" She screamed as she ran out of the room.

Jamie came out of the bathroom with a dazed and confused look on his face. "What? What happened?" He asked frantically.

Rachel was breathing heavily with her hand over her chest. "There's a spider crawling down the wall in your room."

Jamie walked to the doorframe of his room; his eyes widened and he reached up to the doorknob to close the door to his room. "So kill it."

Rachel didn't hesitate to roll her eyes. Looks like Boy Genius isn't such a genius after all. "Don't you think I would have done that by now if I wasn't _afraid _of spiders?"

"Well, I'm afraid of spiders too…" He said, his big blue eyes looking up at her. "What did you want me to do about it?"

"I _was _going to ask you to kill it."

"That was smart."

"That was smart," Rachel mimicked childishly in a high-pitched voice. "I thought sarcasm wasn't attractive."

Jamie looked up at her innocently and shrugged his shoulders. "I'm only four." They held each other's gaze in a staring match. Rachel blinked first, and Jamie smiled victoriously.

"_Fine, _I'll do it." Rachel said bitterly as she disappeared into the bedroom, and closed the door behind her.

* * *

"What's all that screaming from upstairs?" Haley asked as she entered the house with Nathan and Brooke. Jamie descended from the stairs at that moment. "There's a spider in my room."

"Do you want me to kill it?" Nathan asked.

"No. Nanny Rachel's taking care of it," He grinned. Haley and Brooke exchanged amused glances before erupting into laughter. Rachel killing a spider was a hilarious thought. Rachel's footsteps thundered down the stairs, and she shuddered as she threw the tissue that held the spider in the garbage disposal, and flipped the switch to turn it on.

"I'm pretty sure it's dead, Hon," Brooke spoke, trying to refrain from laughing. Rachel wasn't convinced. She watched intently as the blades crushed the tissue. When it was done, Rachel turned to Jamie and the three adults that were standing in the room.

"So… how was everyone's day?" She asked with a smile on her face. Jamie grinned up at her, and Brooke tried to suppress her amusement.

"Fine," they all answered slowly. Rachel leaned against the counter with her arms crossed wearing a smirk on her face. "Fine," she repeated just as slow as everyone else had. When everyone kept staring at her, she rolled her eyes. "It was a _spider_, okay?"

No one dithered before starting to laugh. "Ha ha, that's really funny," Rachel said sarcastically as they all laughed. "It was a _big _spider."

"Really big!" Jamie agreed, nodding his head wildly. Brooke put her right over her chest in an 'aw' motion, and Haley and Nathan laughed. Nathan scooped Jamie up into his arms, and carried him outside. "Let's go shoot some hoops."

"Nanny Rachel's better than you… almost."

"Almost, huh? Well, then I better practice more." When he turned around, Nathan's feet were facing the girls. "See you guys later," and he dismissed himself and the waving Jamie from the room.

"Rachel, Brooke," Haley started as she turned to face both of them. "Do you guys wanna come shopping with me tomorrow?" She smiled hopefully at Rachel .

Rachel nodded with a grin on her face. "Sure." _Sounds like fun. _

"Did you even have to ask, Haley?" Brooke asked with her hands on her hips. "Me and shopping is like you and Nathan…" Rachel and Haley laughed at Brooke's comparison.

"Okay, cool. I pick you guys up at ten."

"Okay, bye Haley." Brooke and Rachel walked out to the car. Rachel hopped into the passengers' seat as Brooke sat in the driver's seat. Rachel noticed Brooke staring at her yet again. "What?!"

Brooke seemed to coo with her face. "Rachel, it's _so cute _how Jamie has a crush on you!" She had been noticing it a lot lately, and she thought it was the most adorable thing in the world.

A wave of shock flushed over Rachel at Brooke's words. She couldn't believe that Brooke said something like that. "Brooke," she scoffed, laughing slightly. "No he doesn't. And that's disgusting. He's four," she said slowly, trying to get her point across.

"Almost five."

"Like that makes a difference," she exclaimed throwing her hands up in the air.

"Whatever. It's still cute. And it's not in a creepy way, you pervert. It's not like I said _you _had a crush on _him_." Brooke rolled her eyes, started the car, and backed out of Naley's driveway.

* * *

Nathan and Haley were sitting in the kitchen later that night. Nathan felt the need to be honest with her over the morning's event. With the whole nude incident and what not. He _did _promise Rachel that he wouldn't tell Haley, but not screwing up his marriage again was more important to him than staying in Rachel Gatina's good graces. And one of the reasons he said that was because he was trying to get her to calm down. "Haley… Rachel saw me… naked this morning."

Rather than jump to conclusions, Haley decided to hear him out. "Okay… explain. _Please do." _She couldn't be mad at him for telling him, though. And she couldn't be mad at Rachel either until she knew the whole story.

"Well, she was playing 'hide and seek' with Jamie, and she didn't know I was home. So when she opened the door… well you know the rest." He _almost _shut his eyes as he waited for Haley's response, but he didn't. He was surprised when Haley started laughing. "You're not mad?"

"No," she said as she shook her head. "It's not like she did it on purpose."

_Okay, good,_ he thought with a smile on his face. _That's good. _"Oh, and you can't tell Rachel I told you. I told her that I wouldn't tell you… she was freaking out and that was the only thing that would calm her down." He told Haley.

Haley smiled a soft smile. "You're a good guy. You know that, Nathan?" She pressed a small kiss to his lips. "And I promise not to say anything, but she's going to know something's up when I laugh from time to time."

"Haley…" he warned.

"Okay," she gave in, moving to sit in his lap. "Tomorrow's going to be a good day."

* * *

**Thanks for reading! I hope you all enjoyed that!! Please review!**


	7. Chapter 7

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Unwanted Help: Chapter 7

**Thank you to everyone who reviewed the last chapter, and favorited and alerted it! I know this has taken a long time, but thanks SO MUCH to TVCrazed who helped me so much for future chapters as well as this one, and also thanks to othspnluver for reading this chapter for me!! **

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"Brooke, get up!"

Brooke shot out of bed before turning to look at the clock. Her mouth turned into a thin, firm line. "Do you have any idea what time it is?!" She held the clock with the time pointing towards the smirking Rachel.

"Yeah, I know," she crossed her arms over her chest taking in the sight of the messy-haired Brooke Davis that stood before her. She was definitely not a morning person. "It's seven-thirty-"

"On a Saturday! " She yelled before remembering they were getting up to pick up Haley for their shopping trip to the mall.

"You're the one who wanted to get up at this time, Grumpy. I was just following Ms. Davis's orders." She smirked at Brooke again before walking away.

Brooke couldn't help but notice the change of roles that had just been presented before her. Rachel had only been Jamie's nanny for a short time, and if this was a week or two ago, she would have had to be the one to wake Rachel up, not the other way around. She always knew that this experience would have a positive effect on Rachel, but she didn't know that this effect would come so quickly. She was proud of Rachel, but she didn't want to embarrass Rachel by bringing it up, but she was going to any. Embarrassing Rachel was one of the highlights of her day.

* * *

About twenty minutes later, Brooke descended from the stairs dressed in a pink tank top, faded blue jeans, and black high heels with her purse in hand.

"Well, the princess has finally arrived," Rachel mused sarcastically.

Ha ha. Brooke smirked, "Well, it takes time to look this good."

Rachel sneered, holding Brooke's car keys in her hands, and she headed towards the door. "I'm sure it does."

Brooke scoffed, following Rachel outside, grabbing her car keys back from Rachel's possession. They both entered the automobile together. "I am going to forgive you for that comment, because I have something important to say to you," she sincerely stated with a smile. As soon as those words left Brooke's mouth, Rachel's demeanor changed. "I'm proud of you, Rach."

Rachel sighed, but she was definitely flattered. She was proud of herself too. "Thanks, Brooke," she mumbled coyly to the ground. "Can we go now?" Brooke nodded, laughed, and pulled out of the driveway.

Haley poked her out of the window and saw Brooke's car pull up in the driveway. Nathan was gone for the day, and when he left, he dropped Jamie off with Skills, Mouth, Junk, and Fergie. She waved out to them and entered the car after locking up. She hoped that the day would not be awkward, and that they could end up working past their precedent differences since they were both obviously trying to.

"Hey, guys," Haley greeted as she opened the door to the car. She sat down in the back seat and threw her purse into the seat next to her. "Oh, Rachel, Jamie says 'hi, Nanny Rachel.'"

"Aw, that is so cute," Brooke cooed.

"And, no, he didn't say anything to his Aunt Brooke," Haley laughed looking down at her lap avoiding eye contact with the obviously pissed Brooke. A couple minutes later, Brooke muttered "unbelievable" under her breath.

Haley rolled her eyes, "Brooke, you're such a baby, I was just kidding!"

This cheered Brooke up. "Really?! What'd he say?"

Haley and Rachel exchanged glances in the rear view mirror. "Nothing, he didn't say anything." That made Rachel crack up after seeing Brooke's face drop. "Calm down, Brooke, it's harmless teasing. We're just having fun… at your expense," Haley explained, trying to cover up the smile that she was now wearing. Rachel's incessant laughing did not help at all.

"Are you done?" Brooke snapped at Rachel as she pulled into the parking lot of the mall. Rachel's laughter died down, and the girls exited the vehicle. "You both will pay, trust me," Brooke threatened as she stalked ahead of them.

"Ooh, we're so scared," Rachel muttered only so Haley.

"Uh, I don't know, something tells me we should be."

* * *

"I didn't know shopping was code for 'carrying Brooke's stuff', Rachel complained as she walked through the mall next to Haley. Haley was carrying three bags in each hand and Rachel was carrying four in one hand and five in the other.

"I didn't either," Haley admitted. "If we didn't start teasing her earlier."

"We? No, honey, this is your fault."

"And you stopped me? You were the one laughing for like three hours! Let's strangle her with the panty hose when she comes out of that store," Haley suggested, nodding to the store that Brooke was running through. In the window, they could see Brooke picking up as many things as she could to try on in the dressing room.

Rachel shook her head, her hair shaking along with it. "Nah. Too many witnesses."

"We can just drag her into that corner over there," Haley nodded to the empty corner ahead and they both shared a laugh.

For the past two hours, their shopping trip had turned into Brooke's shopping trip. The day consisted of following Brooke around the mall. Rachel suspected that this was part of Brooke's payback and the other part was to force her and Haley to talk.

"So um," Haley whispered awkwardly. "How are you doing with the whole recovery thing?"

"I'm doing pretty well," Rachel admitted easily. She had thought that it would be weird talking to Haley about this, but it came easier than she thought it would. "It was hard at first, but now, I barely even think about it. I have Brooke to thank for that. And don't tell her I said that, because she already holds enough stuff over my head."

"Your secret's safe with me," Haley promised.

"And… I also have you and Jamie to thank for that too. It made me realize what I want in life. Before I was just getting by with how I looked in the modeling agency and in life, it was shallow, and I've realized that I'm better than that. You're twenty-two and you already have your life figured out, you already have a family… a very hot, sweet husband, and the cutest little boy. I want that someday. I want to have a family that I can take care of, and that takes care of me."

Haley was taken aback at first by Rachel's openness with her, but she welcomed it. "You'll have that someday, Rachel. And while you're waiting for that, you have us. Me and Brooke, Jamie and Nathan, Peyton and Lucas… and the list goes on, Rachel. Just know that we're here for you."

"Thanks."

"No problem."

They both looked through the glass of the store that Brooke was in. "She probably needs our help now," Rachel said. Haley silently agreed and they made their way inside the clothing store, into the back where the dressing rooms were.

Brooke came out of the dressing room, swinging the door open wide, displaying the clothes that she wasn't going to buy. "I didn't like the way the clothes fit," she explained, waving her arm nonchalantly. "So…" she started with a broad smile creeping across her face. "What were you guys talking about? I was watching you guys out there and-"

"Yeah… that's not creepy at all," Rachel mumbled as she set the bags down on the floor. Haley snickered and set her's down on a chair in the corner.

"We were talking about ways we could kill you," Haley answered as she watched Brooke narrow her eyes at both of them. Brooke didn't need to know about the second part of their conversation.

"This is the thanks I get for getting you a nanny and you a job?" She paused dramatically, also waiting for them to say something. "Well… at least you guys are getting along. If Peyton were here, it wouldn't be so easy to kill me, now would it?"

"I think she'd get tired of carrying your bags, too."

"Yeah, yeah, you know you love me. What would your lives be life without the fabulous Brooke Penelope Davis?" She smirked, and grabbed her bags, leaving the store with an angry duo following her lead.

* * *

Once they were done at the mall, after Rachel and Haley finally got their turns do some shopping, they all thought it was time to call it a day. After packing the bags in the trunk, they returned to the spots they were in before. "Brooke, how about we pick up Jamie, and head to the park?"

"Sounds like a plan, Tutor Mom."

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**Please review! I promise the next update won't take nearly as long!**


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